As well as Frank de Boer, there have been a couple more new faces for the Palace squad to meet when they returned to pre-season training, with the Dutchman adding Orlando Trustfull and Alessandro Schoenmaker to his backroom team.
Trustfull has become the Eagles’ new assistant manager, a role that he held under De Boer during the two’s time at Inter Milan last year. The 46-year-old was born in Amsterdam and briefly played for the Ajax youth teams during the 1980s, however his professional debut came with second-tier side HFC Haarlem in 1989/90. Stints with SVV Schiedam and Twente would follow, before getting his big break with Feyenoord in 1992.
Trophies arrived with the Rotterdam side who won the league in his first full season and then lifted two successive Dutch Cups. Success with his club side also gave Trustful the chance to feature for Holland twice in the 1994/95 season, before he decided to head abroad and signed for Sheffield Wednesday where he would spend the 1996/97 campaign featuring alongside Mark Bright.
After 22 appearances and three goals for the Owls, Trustful returned to his homeland and spent the final four years of his playing career at Vitesse Arnhem before hanging up his boots in 2001. His first coaching break would come a decade later back at Ajax where he worked in the youth academy, and would also be assistant manager with the Dutch under-17 and under-19 teams. He would later reprise the role for Ajax under De Boer, whom he would follow to Milan at the start of last season.
Schoenmaker meanwhile has also spent time in English football, with Palace’s new performance coach having followed the career path of Steve McClaren closely since the pair worked together successfully ay FC Twente, where they won the Eredivisie title in 2010.
The Brazilian, who had started his coaching career with Utrecht, would also work under the former England manager at Wolfsburg, Nottingham Forest, Twente again, Derby County and Newcastle United, which was his first taste of life at a Premier League club.
He would also join Inter Milan where he worked with De Boer for the first time, before the pair were reunited, alongside Trustful, in SE25 ahead of the 2017/18 campaign.